News Flash

City News

Posted on: July 17, 2018

Portland One of Seven to Pilot New INRIX Autonomous Vehicle Platform

The City of Portland is excited to announce it is one of seven cities and groups to pilot INRIX AV Road Rules, a platform that lays the foundation for the city to communicate with operators for safe and effective deployment of Highly Automated Vehicles (HAV) on public roads. INRIX AV Road Rules is the first platform that enables cities and road authorities to assign, validate and manage traffic rules and restrictions for autonomous vehicles operating on public roads. The platform also leverages HAV data about roads to report infrastructure improvement needs, making the roads safer for all users.

“This is just the beginning for Portland,” said City Manager Jon Jennings. “We are truly poised for additional growth in the technology sector, and mapping our city for HAV usage is just the latest in a string of developments in which Portland is leading as a smart city and innovation hub of the East Coast,” said Jennings, referring to the city’s recent deployment of LED street lights, smart traffic signals, and public WiFi spots.

Jennings added, “the implementation of HAVs is a key component of our transportation management plans to help manage our growth and ease traffic congestion, especially along Franklin and Commercial Streets. I’d like to thank the City Council for supporting this effort and recognizing the economic development benefits it brings. We invite companies to locate here and pilot new projects knowing that we stand ready to work with them.”

INRIX AV Road Rules will help Portland take an important and concrete step to support HAVs safe operation on city roads. The City can easily assign traffic restrictions and have those rules provided directly to vehicles, and will explore how the City shares information with vehicles and vice versa. It will provide the base for operators interested in piloting AVs on public streets by offering an important dataset that demonstrates Portland’s understanding of real-world deployment challenges.

Portland will work with INRIX to map the city as part of the first phase. Choosing a vendor for HAV service will be a separate phase and will be based on several factors including past experience and costs. Any questions can be emailed to citymanager@portlandmaine.gov.

HAVs are currently testing on public roads in fewer than 50 cities around the world, but more markets are interested in bringing this new technology to their streets. At launch, Portland is joining six other cities and road authorities and four HAV operators that have signed on to support INRIX AV Road Rules, and many more have expressed interest in joining when it expands later this year. In addition to Portland, the initial set of pilot users includes cities and road authorities with a variety of sizes, climates and geographies: Bellevue, WA; Boston, MA; Austin, TX; the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada which includes Las Vegas; Transport for West Midlands and Transport Scotland in the UK. Automakers and operators slated to use the platform at launch include: nuTonomy (an Aptiv company), Jaguar Land Rover, May Mobility, and Renovo. The initial set of partners will help refine and expand the platform to improve a crucial tool for road authorities to fulfill their traditional role of setting and maintaining traffic rules and restrictions.

“If deployed correctly, autonomous vehicles will radically improve our transportation systems, making them safer, more efficient and higher quality,” said Avery Ash, head of autonomous mobility. “After talking to hundreds of cities, states and federal officials, and dozens of HAV operators, we identified a critical data gap that INRIX is uniquely positioned to address. INRIX AV Road Rules marks an essential new tool for transportation agencies to lay a foundation for the safe operation of HAVs on public roads.”

INRIX AV Road Rules enables cities and road authorities to quickly and easily digitize local restrictions such as speed limits, crosswalks, school zones and stop signs, allowing automakers and HAV operators to ensure vehicles comply with local guidelines. The platform also creates a channel to communicate road infrastructure needs from HAVs back to transportation agencies, which improves safety and performance for all road users.